My guest today is writing coach and bestselling author Kate Harrison. Kate has written contemporary women’s fiction, the YA Soul Beach trilogy, and has recently moved into adult thrillers with the dark and twisty The Secrets You Hide, under a new pen name Kate Helm

She has also got a successful non-fiction brand with a range of diet and lifestyle books based on the 5:2 intermittent fasting method and regularly teaches other writers through courses, events and her consultancy service.

Kate says that writing pitches (or ‘hook lines’) for books is her ‘superpower’, and she shares her knowledge – and enthusiasm – on the subject in her online course: Plan, Pitch & Sell Your Book.

The course covers much more than writing a compelling pitch, though. I’ll let Kate explain:

In seven steps, you’ll learn how to attract an audience and overcome rejection by identifying what is unique and irresistible about your work. It’ll help you to hone your story or concept – without losing the excitement.

The course is reasonably-priced at £99, but Kate has generously offered a SPECIAL 50% DISCOUNT for Worried Writer listeners. Thank you, Kate!

I give thanks for the wonderful Patreon support and a shout-out to new patrons.

I love the ‘community within a community’ that we’ve created over on Patreon and I really enjoy making the audio extras (which go up in the middle of every month).

Thank you so much to everyone supporting The Worried Writer in this way – it means so much to me.

If you’ve got a question you would like answered on the show, contact me via email or Twitter or leave a comment on this post.

IN THE INTERVIEW

On writing:

I have a butterfly mind

It’s always all about the idea for me… An idea either grips me or it doesn’t and once it’s gripped me, I have to do it.

Process:

I do aim for a word count… I wrote part time for the first four years, and switched full time in 2007. I imagined I would get loads done, but it didn’t quite work out that way… So, I have a word count… I tend to sent a lowish goal and then exceed it because I’m a bit of a girly swot.’

I try to write really quite quickly because I like the bright shiny thing and if an idea is knocking around my brain for too long, it gets stale for me… I try to get it down fast and then go back and edit it later. But it can vary from book to book, too

‘I do find that 25 minutes on a novel, to start with, is quite hard work. We’re just so addicted, now, to getting distracted by things around us. And I will give myself a bit of talking to with that and say ‘look, if you can’t write for 15 minutes without checking your email you’re a bit of a lost cause…’

On self-doubt:

Although I have written a lot, now, I still get imposter syndrome, I still get the doubts in the saggy middle or near the end and I have no concept of whether a book is good or bad until I have a bit of distance

When I’m very stuck I consciously change my environment.

On writing pitches:

My one superpower seems to be to listen to someone’s book idea and go ‘okay, that’s what you need to put in your pitch, and this is your hook or your elevator pitch… It’s just something I’ve got a knack for. All my writer friends ask me to do this… Partly, I think, it’s my background in journalism and television.

You can’t expect everybody to love your book but you must have a clear idea of what you’re offering them.

Thanks for listening!

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